The Fire Inside
by shabam
Summary: It's another L/J love/hate/MWPP Hogwarts years fic but hopefully with some [un]expected plot twists. Also, who knew Sirius had a twin sister? It's going to get better/darker/more PG-13ish later, promise (right now it's rated for language). **CHAP. 6 UP**
1. Year One

AN: Everything explained in the review...First L/J attempt so that's why it's awful. Anyway...on with the story!  
  
~~~  
  
Lily Evans nervously adjusted her robes and settled herself in her seat. Out the window, she could see her mum and dad waving and her sister Petunia sulkily observing the wall. She waved back as the train started to chug along. She continued to stare out the window even as Platform 9 disappeared into the rolling green countryside.  
  
^I hope I'll make friends,^ she thought. Lily had always felt out of place at her old school and didn't find out until recently that it was because she was a wizard. Now, going to Hogwarts, she hoped that would change.  
  
She was jolted out of her reverie by the sound of footsteps and yelling. Turning, she was just in time to see two boys run into her car. The one in the lead had glasses and unruly black hair. He was laughing and dangling something in front of him. His furious pursuer had shaggy dark brown hair and several freckles.  
  
"Potter!" yelled the boy chasing his friend. "Give me my wand back NOW!"  
  
"Come and get me first, Sirius!" said Potter, laughing.  
  
Sirius let out several curses and followed the black-haired boy. Lily was about to resume staring out the window when a girl about her own age stepped into the car. "Can I sit here?"  
  
"Sure," Lily said. The girl sat in the seat opposite her. She had long dark brown hair pulled up in a ponytail. Two dark eyes were set over a nose covered in freckles.  
  
"Excuse me," Lily said. "But, that boy who just came through here--Sirius--are you..."  
  
"Oh, my good-for-nothing twin?" The girl rolled her eyes. "Yes, that's him. Sadly, we are related. Angelique Black," she said, holding out a hand. "Call me Angel."  
  
Lily shook her hand. "Lily Evans. Who was that Potter?"  
  
"Oh, you mean James. Our neighbor. Our dads are both Aurors."  
  
"Aurors?"  
  
"Yes..." Angel paused, then lit up in a smile. "Oh! I see! You're a Muggle!"  
  
"Yes." said Lily. She knew what Muggles were at least.  
  
"Oh, but you're missing so much!" Angel exclaimed. She leaned forward and began to give Lily a thorough grounding of Hogwarts. By the time the train reached the Hogsmeade station, Lily was beginning to feel at home.  
  
~~~  
  
Standing in the Great Hall, Lily heard her name called. "Evans, Lily!"  
  
This is it, she thought, stepping up to the dais on which stood young, stern-faced Professor McGonagall. The last thing she saw before the Sorting Hat slipped over her head was Angel at the Gryffindor table giving her a thumbs-up sign.  
  
She stared into the blackness of the hat and jumped when she heard a voice.  
  
"Yes," said the hat. "You're a smart one, oh yes. Very bright, very very bright, hmm. Ravenclaw would suit you." Lily could not help but feel a rush of disappointment at not being in the same House as Angel. "However," the hat went on, "there's bravery in here. Oh, yes, much."  
  
Bravery?!?! Lily thought. She was Lily Evans, the one who kept to her books and never tried out for anything, the one who always chose Truth instead of Dare.  
  
"Ah, my dear," the hat said, its voice softening for a moment, "yes, so young...and so brave...what a sacrifice..."  
  
Sacrifice? Lily thought, panic rising in her. Before she could act, the hat continued. "To bring that bravery out," it mused, "you should be in GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
Lily, disbelieving, thrust the hat into Professor McGonagall's hands and stumbled down to the Gryffindor table amidst the applause. She smiled weakly at Angel, who clapped her on the back. "Congrats! You did it!" her new friend yelled.  
  
~~~  
  
James Potter grinned when the food appeared. "Dig in, Sirius." He helped himself to several pieces of steak and a heaping pile of mashed potatoes. He reached for a roll and grabbed it just as another hand did.  
  
He looked up. "Hullo, Angel. Long time no see."  
  
"Pity," Sirius drawled from his seat, "that you had to be in the same House as your fabulous brother."  
  
Angel stuck out her tongue at him. "Live with it, Sirius."  
  
"Will do, Angel-IQUE." Sirius looked at the girl on his sister's right. "Who's your friend?"  
  
"Lily Evans," said the girl. She was small, with wavy red hair in a ponytail and piercing green eyes that showed through her oval tortoiseshell glasses.  
  
"Pleased to meet you," Sirius said. James gave a vague smile as way of greeting and shoveled potatoes into his mouth.  
  
"Now, who are your friends, Potter?" Angel asked. "Don't be rude and leave us wondering."  
  
James motioned towards the boy on Sirius' left. "Remus Lupin. Remus, Angel Black and Lily Evans."  
  
"Hello," said Remus. He was a small boy with honey-brown hair and sad hazel eyes.  
  
"I-I'm P-peter," said the boy sitting next to him. Peter was chubby, with a thin, quivering nose and small eyes. "P-peter P-p-pettigrew ((AN: Damn him!))." Lily, disliking this boy, nodded curtly and turned back to her chicken.  
  
"So, what do you call yourselves?" Angel asked sarcastically. "The Marauders?" Lily looked up, confused. "They're a comic book gang," Angel explained. "They try to play tricks on Muggles but never succeed."  
  
Sirius was ignoring his sister's explanation. "The Marauders..." He jumped and hit the table, causing several spilled drinks and cries of "Oy! Watch it!". "That's it! We'll be the Marauders!"  
  
"I like it," James said slowly. Remus nodded.  
  
"Y-yes," said Peter. "M-me t-t-too."  
  
James shot a glare at the boy. He hadn't asked Peter to be in the group, but he supposed that he was now. Peter was one of those people who could worm his way into anything by being pathetic. James tried to motion to Sirius with his eyes, but he failed.  
  
"To the Marauders!" Remus held up his goblet and the rest of the group followed suit.  
  
"Oh, Lord," muttered Angel.  
  
Just then, something exploded out of Lily's bowl of chowder. Warm soup hit her full on the face, and showered several people next to her. She picked up her napkin and wiped her eyes, gasping. Closer inspection of her bowl revealed a Filibuster firework.  
  
She glared daggers round the Marauders. "All right, who did that?"  
  
Peter looked bewildered; Remus was grinning; Sirius was laughing hysterically. Only James Potter had that too-innocent look on his face.  
  
"Potter," Lily said sweetly, "did YOU put that firework in my soup?"  
  
"What?" James asked in mock confusion, batting his eyelashes over his clear blue eyes. "Me? Why, no?"  
  
^You'll pay for that, James Potter,^ Lily thought, watching him dissolve into laughter. ^You'll pay.^  
  
~~~  
  
"Can anyone tell me what the Sinjaro Spell does? It was in the reading last night." Professor McGonagall's eyes settled on James Potter, slouching off in the back corner. "Mr. Potter?"  
  
James was currently in the process of making a list of pranks to play on worthy victims. After writing "Lily Evans" at the top of his paper, he had crossed the name out. Too easy. After last week's chowder episode she had been all sweetness and light, with no sign of wanting revenge. Now, that Slytherin kid with the greasy hair...Snake or Sape or something...His thought was cut short by McGonagall's curt voice. "Mr. Potter? Are we paying attention? Please answer my question."  
  
James shifted uneasily in his chair. He had no idea what the professor had just asked him. "Um...Number one?" he asked, taking a wild stab at the question.  
  
The professor narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps someone who has been *paying attention* can tell us what the Sinjaro Spell does?" Lily's hand shot up. "Miss Evans?"  
  
"The Sinjaro Spell turns any object into a finger of flame," Lily recited. ^Gawd,^ thought James, ^did she stuff the class notes into her head?^ "The bigger the object, the bigger the blaze."  
  
"Very good, Miss Evans," Professor McGonagall said, bestowing a rare smile upon Lily. "Some of us--" she shot a look at James "would do well to follow Miss Evan's example." She walked back up to the front of the class. "Now, the transmogrification..."  
  
Lily turned around in her seat very slowly, as to not attract the teacher's attention. She shot a look at James, scowling in the back corner, and gave him a smart-alecky smile. Seeing his frown deepen, she mouthed, "Gotcha, Potter."  
  
James turned back to his paper and re-wrote "Lily Evans" at the top. Evans was a very worthy candidate. Very worthy indeed.  
  
~Nine Months Later~  
  
Lily didn't want to leave. The castle now felt like home to her, and although seeing her family would be nice, the thought of going a whole summer without Angel was unbearable. The two had become thick as thieves during the year, although they were so different: Angel tall, dark, sarcastic, all-around prankster, Lily small, quiet, and brainy, model student and teacher's pet. She would also miss Sirius; his jokes and wisecracks had helped her through many piles of homework, and Remus, who had always been a quiet, but good, friend.  
  
Looking out the train window for a last glimpse of Hogwarts, Lily saw a tall figure stride down the path. She sighed. James Potter was one aspect of school she was *glad* to get away from. Two days after the Transfiguration episode she had collapsed into a chair in a crowded common room to be greeted with a noise like a foghorn. When the Whoopie Cushion had been discovered, she had got a glimpse of Potter silently cracking up near the fireplace. She had gone out of her way to publicly humiliate him in Charms and, in return, had found her hair dyed a nicely bright pink in the morning. From then on it was war.  
  
But Lily had gotten the last laugh. She closed her eyes and remembered the day the exams came back. Lily Evans, top of all the classes! The look on Potter's face had been enough to satisfy her revenge for the whole summer.  
  
Just then Angel burst into her compartment. "You will never guess," she said, breathless, "what Frank Longbottom just did." Lily let out a laugh and settled down to listen. She always felt vaguely sorry for Frank, but hearing about his latest blunder was always funny.  
  
The train ride ended all too soon, and before she knew it Lily was standing on Platform 9 with Angel, Remus, and Sirius gathered around her. The omnipresent ((AN: ooh, vocab word!)) Peter quivered off to Remus' side, and James stood well apart.  
  
Lily hugged Angel tightly. "Owl me lots." She smiled over her friend's shoulders at the two boys. "You guys too, OK?"  
  
"See ya, Lils," Sirius called cheerfully. The small band began to disperse.  
  
Lily picked up her cart and was about to head off when she was stopped by Potter coming towards her. "What do *you* want?" she snarled.  
  
"Look, Evans," he began. "We didn't get off to a very good start, and I want you to know that I'm sorry."  
  
Lily blinked. "Y-yes," she muttered. "O-okay."  
  
"Good." Potter patted her on the back. "Maybe we can be friends next year, who knows?"  
  
"S-sure..." Lily began, but was cut short by the sight of her family running towards her.  
  
"Lily darling!" her mum exclaimed. "We missed you!"  
  
"Hi, Mum," said Lily, sweeping her into a hug.  
  
Her mother, however, recoiled. "Lily...did you wash your neck today?" Suddenly, Petunia screamed. Lily reached back and felt a sliminess, which she grasped and pulled into her line of vision. It was the largest, fattest, squelchiest frog she had ever seen.  
  
"POTTER!" she shrieked, dropping the frog. Scanning the crowds wildly, she spotted him laughing.  
  
"Gotcha, Evans!" he yelled.  
  
~~~  
  
How did you like it? I couldn't put too much fluff in as they're only first years, but some soon. Reviews appreciated.  
  
Disclaimer: Everything's JK Rowling's except for Angelique Black. If u try to copy her I'll put a frog down your back. 


	2. Year Two

A/N: OMG Thank you for reviews!!!!!!!! Apart from the nasty one[s] (you know, Radio Station, that's a pretty weak flame) and the crazy one[s] (tee hee, Elizabeth!) they were GREAT!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Oh, BTW, in the first chapter Microsoft Word screwed up Platform 9 3/4 . I KNOW it's not Platform 9, k?  
  
OK, chapter two. This is pretty short but important.  
  
  
~~~  
  
  
"ANGEL!" Lily hugged her friend fiercely. "I've missed you SO MUCH!"  
  
"Me too." Her friend grinned. "Owling isn't as much fun as actually seeing someone."  
  
"Speaking of owls." Lily moved aside to reveal a large cage. Inside was a slender barn owl. "Her name's Angharad, Angie for short. Now we don't have to use Flash all the time."  
  
"Ooh, she's beautiful."  
  
"Who is?" Sirius walked in, closely followed by Remus, and grinned at Lily. "You, Lils?"  
  
"Buzz off, Sirius," said Angel, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Sirius is in here?" That all-too-familiar voice brought a scowl to Lily's face. A very tall, very tan James Potter entered the train compartment. Seeing Lily made him make a face much like hers. "It's you," he said, as if he might say "The dog did something on the rug."  
  
"Hello, Potter," said Lily, all-too-sweetly. "Surprise seeing you."  
  
"Why? Unfortunately, we are in the same school."  
  
"But I thought you'd have been expelled by now."  
  
"Watch it, Evans." His tone was deadly quiet.  
  
"I still haven't forgotten that frog, Potter. I'd say it's *you* who better watch it."  
  
  
~Five Months Later~  
  
  
Lily couldn't sleep. Her golden bedside clock said 1:34, and its ornately decorated iron hands ticked much too slowly for her liking. Finally she rose and headed down to the common room. ^I'll just sit there for a while.^  
  
She chose an armchair in the near-black room and tucked her feet under her. Staring in the direction of the fireplace, she didn't realize she had fallen asleep until she was awakened by the sound of someone coming into the common room. Lily sat very still and listened.  
  
"Ouch! Dammit, James!"  
  
"Sorry, Sirius. This cloak isn't too roomy."  
  
Lily almost giggled with glee. James Potter! Out of bed and in possession of an Invisibility Cloak! But the pleasure of being able to tell McGonagall in the morning faded as she heard the next part of the conversation.  
  
"P-poor R-remus..."  
  
"That's why he was always absent on full moons."  
  
"And hated to look at the moon in Astronomy."  
  
"I wonder how he got to be a--"  
  
"Don't say it."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You never know who's listening."  
  
^Damn right, James Potter.^  
  
"We should do something."  
  
"Y-yes..."  
  
"What can we do? We're only second years, and he's a--a--"  
  
"We'll think of something."  
  
"R-right."  
  
"Right."  
  
Lily stayed motionless in her chair for a few minutes after the others had gone to bed. Then she tiptoed up the stairs very quietly.  
  
  
~~~  
  
  
At breakfast the next morning, James felt like there was someone watching him the whole time. Finally he glanced over at Lily Evans, sitting next to Angel a few seats down. She was not staring at him, but at Remus, who was sitting next to James quietly enjoying a bowl of cereal.  
  
"Hey Evans," he said, "unless Remus has suddenly sprouted donkey ears, I don't see why you should have to stare."  
  
Her face creased into a scowl. "No need to be *nasty*, Potter. Remus...something on your nose..." Remus, confused, rubbed his nose vigorously.  
  
"Come on, Evans. Why were you staring?"  
  
"None of your..." She trailed off, and stared hard at Frank Longbottom, sitting across from her. James could almost see the cogs working in her brain. She jumped up, grabbed her bag, and ran off.  
  
"Frank," James said, "what are you reading?" The pudgy boy held up his book: "Werewolves--An Anthology."  
  
  
~~~  
  
  
At the end of the year, on Platform 9 3/4 , Lily watched the worn robes that clad Remus Lupin disappear into the crowd. She said nothing on the car ride back to Edgar Lane. She was too busy thinking.  
  
  
~~~  
  
  
Hehe! R&R please! Disclaimer in first chap. 


	3. Year Three

A/N: WOW!! People like this!! Cool!!  
  
Sorry about the delay and the shortage of the last chapter.  
  
A big THANK YOU to all my reviewers and a special one to Ax, who put me on their favorite stories list! Yay!  
  
  
  
***  
  
"Oomph--a little to the right, Sirius--there." Lily brushed her hands with an air of brisk efficiency and gave the two figures on the platform a wry smile. "Well, look, the famous Blacks, stripped of their strength after lifting a simple trunk into the train."  
  
"Not just any trunk. YOUR trunk," panted Angel. "What have you got in there? Rocks?"  
  
"No, just books. I'm taking more classes than you are, after all." Lily, always the intellectual, had jumped at the chance of taking the extra classes all third years were offered. She had chosen all of them except for Muggle Studies ("What's the point? I'm a Muggle"), and, after realizing she had overreached her maximum class limit, had reluctantly dropped Study of Ancient Runes.  
  
"Carry all these books around for a whole year, Lils," Sirius said with a grin, "and you'll almost be as strong as I am." He flexed his arms, making very exaggerated "manly" faces. His show of prowess was interrupted, however, by a well-aimed push from behind. "Ouchies, James," Sirius said, pulling a pretend frown.  
  
"Looks like Macho Man needs to look behind him in the future," said James Potter, laughing as he climbed into the train beside Lily's trunk. She automatically bristled, waiting for the sarcastic greeting that usually came with James, but there was none-only a brief glance with those clear blue eyes. ^Odd,^ she thought, following Angel into the train, ^he didn't even comment on the size of my trunk.^ Normally, James would have taken the advantage of Lily's academic commitment to make sarcastic jokes about being a "brain."  
  
Remus and Peter were already seated, and they gave hellos to James. Lily took a seat across from Angel, managing to drag her trunk next to her. "So...did we all do the assignment for the summer?" Sirius asked casually.  
  
"I did..." Lily began to say, but stopped at the grins on the boys' faces. "What?"  
  
"Not school assignments," said Remus. He reached into his leather schoolbag and drew out a large parchment, which unrolled. Lily caught a glimpse of the title: "101 Ways to Torture Severus Snape."  
  
"Bet nothing can beat this," James said, grinning. He cleared his throat and read off his parchment. "Number sixty-three: Feed him love potion and make him fall in love with Heloise Bullstrode." Everyone fell into helpless laughter at the thought, and the Marauders proceeded to share hilarious tortures to inflict on their favorite victim and archrival.  
  
Soon, everyone's stomachs were aching too much to talk, and the group munched contentedly on snacks from the food cart in silence. Lily noticed a slim brown package resting in James' hand. "What's that, Potter?" she asked curiously, forgetting their rivalry for the moment.  
  
James immediately became more animated. "It's a broom," he said excitedly. "I got accepted into the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. I'm Seeker."  
  
"I saw his broom this summer," Angel said, eyes gleaming. "It's a Nimbus 560. Top of the line, great streamlined shape, totally wipes the old Comets off the board."  
  
"Oh," said Lily. She looked at the broom in its brown paper wrapping, twine wrapped neatly around the whole package. "It looks like a nice broom," she offered.  
  
James looked at her, as if realizing who he had been talking to the whole time. "It's more than a nice broom, Evans. But I wouldn't expect you to know that."  
  
"Why is that, Potter?"  
  
"Because you're a social reject who spends all her time being a smartass."  
  
As soon as James said it, he regretted it. ^ Why, why, WHY?^ his mind screamed at him. ^Why does Lily Evans always bring out the worst in me? I didn't mean that!^  
  
Lily stood up so fast that she knocked the food off her lap and halfway across the compartment. Angel and Remus grabbed her arms. "I thought you had learned manners over the summer, Potter," she said, her voice brimming with unsuppressed rage. "Evidently I was wrong. You were obviously raised in a pigsty."  
  
This time, it was James who stood up, with Sirius restraining him and Peter cowering in the corner (A/N: Coward.). As James was only one inch taller than Lily's five foot four height they could glare at each other straight in the eye. Everyone knew that this could get serious. Never had there been direct insults exchanged between them.  
  
A moment of suspended, icy silence passed, each glaring at the other with red-hot anger. Then James relaxed. "Let's go, guys," he said. "We don't have time for these *girls*."  
  
"Say that again and I'll kick your ass, Potter!" yelled Angel as the Marauders exited into the next compartment. She pulled Lily down into the seat. "Lils, I'm sorry..."  
  
Lily looked down in her lap, pent-up tears streaming down her cheeks, all anger gone. "Why...why did he say that? What if I am a smartass?"  
  
"Shh, you're not," Angel said, putting her arm around her friend. "He's just a bigheaded freak, that's all. I can't believe he actually said that. Want me to whop his butt for you?"  
  
Lily smiled sadly and shook her head. "No, thanks." Her anger surfaced again. "I mean, before now I always thought he was just a conceited brat, but now..."  
  
"Excuse me." A girl poked her head through the door of the compartment. "Is there room here for me?"  
  
"Sure." Angel moved some books off of the adjacent seat and the girl sat down. "What year are you in? What's your House?"  
  
"I'm Arabella Thomas. I'm a third-year Ravenclaw." The girl was tiny for her age at four feet nine inches. She had a golden halo of blonde hair that framed her pixielike face with high cheekbones and rosy cheeks. Her eyes were large and a deep blue, but Angel saw the quick intelligence behind those eyes. She liked this girl immediately.  
  
"I'm Angel Black, and this is Lily Evans," said Angel. Lily said nothing, still looking down at her folded hands in her lap.  
  
Arabella saw her tears. "I don't mean to intrude," she said, "but does this have something to do with that James Potter?"  
  
"Yeah," said Angel, shifting uncomfortably. "He called her, well..."  
  
"A smartass and a social reject." Lily's anger rose again. "Of all things, him calling me names, when he's a stupid, self-centered, egotistical idiot--"  
  
"OK, Lils, we've heard it before."  
  
"I don't like James that much, either. I mean, he is kinda funny and pretty cute-" Arabella giggled, and Angel rolled her eyes at this statement, "but he is pretty self-centered."  
  
"Cute, my ass," Lily muttered. "I'd rather kiss Snape than him."  
  
"Would you dare?" Arabella asked, her eyes lighting up with mischief.  
  
"Given a choice between him and Potter, yes."  
  
"Gimme a break, I'd rather kiss a dog than Snape..."  
  
The girls spent the rest of the trip laughing and talking, and Lily almost forgot the reason for her tears. However, she quickly remembered when she saw James Potter's ice-blue eyes resting on her in the Great Hall. She shot him back a glare. ^I'll show Potter. I'll show him, someday.^  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
James Potter was out of bed at 1:28 P.M., under an Invisibility Cloak, and taking a book out of the Restricted Section of the library. These charges were enough to put him in detention for the rest of the year, but James was accustomed to these midnight excursions. He didn't feel the little thrill of fear that came with doing something against the rules: in fact, he was so familiar with the feeling that he almost felt now that breaking rules was becoming routine.  
  
James ran his hand over the musty spines of the books. Normally not a reading person, James found the forbidden subjects of the books in the Restricted Section fascinating. He had often made a little nighttime stroll down to the library to check out these books, and had learned to break the Screaming Spell put on the books long ago when he had wanted to know just how painful the Bogey's Jinx was.  
  
"Algae...Amuston...right," he whispered, pulling out a fat volume, "Animagi." He tapped the book's spine with his wand, muttered "Arretbruit", and tucked the book under his arm.  
  
Ten minutes later, James climbed through the portrait hole, and the Marauders were on him in a flash. "Didja get it?"  
  
"Yeah...Sirius."  
  
Sirius cleared his throat. He'd been practicing the spell over the summer. "Facimi," he whispered, concentrating hard on the book. A perfect copy of it winked into existence on the Common Room table.  
  
"Good going, Black. I'll nip back down to the library tomorrow evening and return this." James started up the stairs, the tired Marauders behind him. None of them noticed the person watching them from the top of the girls' dormitory stairs, and none of them saw the light from the dying fire glint off of her glasses.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
"I need to talk to you," Lily told Angel the next day in Divination.  
  
"Huh...OK...what about?" her friend asked, absentmindedly swirling tea leaves around in Lily's cup.  
  
"Girls! Care to inform the class about your private conversation?" Miss Williams, the brusque Divination teacher, peered at the girls from under large pencilled eyebrows.  
  
"No, Miss Williams!" Lily lowered her voice. "I think the Marauders are plotting something."  
  
"They're always plotting something. What does this look like? An ostrich? Which means…" Angel paused to leaf through her book. "Damn, no ostrich entries. D'you suppose this could be a giraffe?"  
  
"Angel, listen. Remus is…" Lily looked around. Anyone could hear them now, even with the soft conversations going on around them.  
  
"Remus is what?"  
  
"Hold on." Lily rummaged in her bag and pulled out a quill and a scrap of paper. She paused, wrote "A werewolf", and handed it to Angel.  
  
Angel almost dropped the teacup. "Lils!" she whispered fiercely, mahogany brown eyes huge, "do you know what you just told me?"  
  
"Yes. I have proof if you want to see it."  
  
"Listen, Lily Evans, this is a serious accusation! It's not like teasing Remus for meeting a girl in an empty classroom! If someone's a—you know…"  
  
"I know how serious this is. I've been thinking about it all summer." Lily began to shred the scrap of paper slowly with her chewed fingernails. "And what I saw your brother and his little gang doing last night confirms my suspicions." She leaned in closer. "James took a book on Animagi out from the library yesterday night. Sirius copied it with the Copying Charm."  
  
"That's what he was practicing in his room all summer!" Angel furrowed her brow. "How do you know all this?"  
  
"I…couldn't sleep last night," Lily lied. "Anyway, I think they're going to try to make themselves Animagi."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"To keep their friend company. Anyway, I think we should tell someone—"  
  
"No!" Angel's face took on a look of fear. "Lils…what if no one knows he's a werewolf?" She whispered the word as if in fear.  
  
"Then we have a direct confrontation with them. Tell them we know, try to convince them out of it…"  
  
"No, not that either. What if you're wrong?"  
  
"I can't be wrong!"  
  
"Lily. You're human. You just might be wrong about this."  
  
Lily sighed and leaned back in the armchair. "Okay. We'll keep it a secret." She saw Miss Williams looking at them suspiciously, and said, "Let's get back to this stupid tea crap."  
  
"Right." Angel peered into the cup again. "I know what that is, a lightning bolt." She read from her book. "'A surprise attack or betrayal.' Creepy. Sorry, Lils."  
  
"S'ok. All this Divination junk is fake, anyway. I can't believe I dropped Study of Ancient Runes for this."  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
In the train ride at the end of the year, Lily and James were very careful to not speak one word to each other. Lily chatted with Arabella (or Bella, as she was known now) and joked with Sirius, Angel, and Remus, and James showed off on his broom, but each hadn't communicated with the other for months. Even the intellectual-prank "war" had been abandoned.  
  
Lily had to enlist Sirius, Angel, and Remus this time to help her push her trunk off the train. Mr. Evans, after giving a huge hug to his daughter, took over the weightlifting. The tall, dark-haired man shouldered the trunk as if it were nothing.  
  
All the goodbyes had been said: hugs to Angel and Bella, slaps on the back for Sirius and Remus, and even a cautious wave to Peter. Finally Lily, pushing back all her dislike for James, turned and met his eyes. "Have a nice summer, Potter," she said, coldly polite.  
  
He blinked, surprised. Lily guessed that this was the first nice thing she had said to him that wasn't sarcastic. "You too, Evans," he said, slightly bewildered.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
You know the procedure—R & R!  
  
Chapter Five coming as soon as I can write it!  
  
PS—I just read over this, and I seem to be oddly obsessed with the word "ass". Weird. 


	4. Year Four

A/N: Yay! The next chapter! Sorry it took so long…I am just a normal person, I do have a life outside of FF.net (gasp!) that includes school…spring break, tho, 2 weeks of freedom, that means more chaptahs 4 u guys!  
  
Thanks, as always, to ppl who reviewed. U guyz are awesome. A special thanks to DreamCloud53, who liked this so much she put it on her fave stories list and printed it out! *speechless* Wow! Now this is on 2 fave stories list…better hurry up with chapta 5…  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
Lily arranged her trunk on one side of the train compartment and smiled. It was so good to be back on the train, going back to her favorite place in the world. The summer with Petunia had been almost unbearable—Lily's elder sister seemed to have hit the Moody 15 stage and had been nastier than ever.  
  
^I'm away from her now.^ Lily allowed herself a moment to gaze at the rolling countryside before the train gave a bump and she careened into Angel.  
  
"Ouch, Lily!"  
  
"Sorry." Lily seated herself next to Bella, who was watching Angel try to hurriedly finish her summer History of Magic essay.  
  
"Dammit." Angel blew on the smeared parchment, her sloppy, uneven script rambling across the page in no apparent direction. "Binns is gonna kill me. He needs four feet. I have three feet one inch and three quarters, and half of my essay's inkblots."  
  
"And your handwriting space," commented Bella.  
  
"Well, it's not like penmanship is a required subject at school." Angel was infamous among the teachers as the girl with the worst handwriting at Hogwarts. ((A/N: Hehe Mutt!)) "I'm running out of ideas, and my writing is already big. Lily, can I copy?"  
  
"No. You should have done this when you had time."  
  
"Come on, Quidditch finals for the English Cup were going on. You honestly didn't expect me to work then, did you?"  
  
"All the same."  
  
"You think Angel can concentrate when brooms are whizzing past her window?" Bella asked. "Nope. How long is your essay, Lils?"  
  
"Five feet four and a half inches."  
  
"Geez, and your writing is miniscule." Angel turned to Bella. "Bel, pleasepleasepleaseplease can I copy…if you ever want to see me alive again…"  
  
"I suppose so—I mean, we're in different Houses." Bella handed the parchment to Angel, who snatched it eagerly. "Binns'll never remember if he reads something twice."  
  
"Wouldn't it be wonderful," Angel sighed, "if Binns just—died?"  
  
"Oh, Angel, don't say things like that," said Lily nervously.  
  
"He's a teacher, who wouldn't want him to die? He'd do everyone a favor by shutting up." Angel held up Bella's unrolled essay triumphantly. "Thanks, Bella, you're a champ. I owe you for this…let's have a spree at Honeydukes sometime, my treat…"  
  
A few hours later, as the train was nearing Hogwarts, Lily realized whom they had not seen. "Angel…where's your brother and his gang?"  
  
"Oh, the Fab Four?" Angel rolled her eyes. "Dunno. Off planning something."  
  
"Why, Lily?" asked Bella, making a face that Lily recognized as her teasing look. "Looking forward to seeing dear Jamesie again?"  
  
Lily glared at her friend. "I'll be lucky if I *never* see 'dear Jamesie' again."  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
"Avarica nemphis," Sirius muttered, squinting from the dim light of the candles. "Avricaca…nempis arvica…" He pounded the round table in exasperation. "James, that's enough. I can't keep my eyes open."  
  
James stared hard at the small, round crystal in the center of the most secluded common room table. Enchanting the crystal was the first step in becoming Animagi. After the crystal glowed dull purple, the next step would be ready.  
  
"OK. Let's stop," he agreed wearily. "Peter, blow out the candles. Sirius, carry 'em upstairs. Remus, get the books. I'll take the crystal tonight." Yawning, the Marauders wearily began to clean up the table, and James led the way to the boys' dormitories.  
  
Once inside, he lay flat down on his back beside his bed and tapped a knot of the carved cherrywood with his wand. "It's me."  
  
The knot morphed to form a grinning, devlish face. "Password?" it asked in an impish whisper. It had been trained to whisper after a nasty burn from James' wand in second year.  
  
"Snape's an ugly git."  
  
"Right on," the face cackled, and it opened outward to reveal a small drawer: James' private stash. He pushed aside some of its contents (fireworks, half of Filch's secret files, pictures of Snape in his underwear, dancing, with pink hair and fairy wings, etc.) to place the crystal in the center of the drawer. James pushed the drawer shut (the face disappeared), jumped into bed, and set his glasses down next to his wand on his bedside table.  
  
Right before James went to sleep, he could almost feel the crystal in the drawer below, burning into his back like a big secret.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
"Let's go Gryffindor!" Angel shouted. "Woo-hoo! Go kick some Ravenclaw butt!"  
  
"Oh, no you won't." Bella grinned wickedly. "We're gonna kick your butt from here to Diagon Alley."  
  
"We'll see about that," Sirius challenged from the other side of Lily.  
  
Lily had no time to notice anything but the cold. Her nose bright red, she huddled into her blankets, trying to disappear. She had wanted to stay inside and finish the Defense Against the Dark Arts project due the next Monday, but no, everyone HAD to see the first Quidditch match of the season. Including Angel, her partner in the project. Before, Lily had always found an excuse to stay in from a Quidditch game. She thought sports were stupid and preferred reading. This time, however, Angel insisted that she come.  
  
"Can't we go next time?" Lily had asked.  
  
"No. When we win, we get to taunt Bella. Besides," Angel added with a teasing grin, "dear Jamesie will be playing."  
  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you LIKE him."  
  
Angel shuddered. "Gawd, don't even suggest it. James is like my brother—my very egotistical, annoying brother. Much like the one I've got, in fact."  
  
"Sirius isn't too egotistical—or annoying."  
  
"I find him so. Anyway, you're coming."  
  
"OK, Lily?" Angel asked now.  
  
"I'm cold, and there's a project that needs finishing."  
  
"Just forget about schoolwork for once. Relax, have some fun. Ooh, look, the Ravenclaws." Angel clapped politely, while Bella cheered enthusiastically.  
  
"Here are the Ravenclaws! Leroy! Adams! Kaston! Diggory! Fletcher! Bagman! Figg!" Tom Jordan, the school's announcer, was barely visible from Lily's seat. "And here come the Gryffindors, the defending champions! Patton! Krutskov! Lewis! Wood! Townsend! Smith! Potter!"  
  
"GO KICK SOME ASS, GRYFFINDOR!" Angel yelled. Several younger students and teachers looked at her sharply. Angel continued to whistle and yell, oblivious.  
  
"There you see her in full, my Quidditch-obsessed sister." Sirius leaned back on one elbow and grinned at Lily. "I will never forget the World Cup games eight years ago in France."  
  
"What happened?" asked Lily, curious.  
  
"She stood up and yelled, 'HEY! YOU GUYS PLAY LIKE SHIT!' Mind you, we were seven at the time. It was a tad disturbing to see a small girl shout something like that." Sirius smiled sappily and wiped a pretend tear from his eyes. "Ah, memories." Lily giggled.  
  
"Yeah, well, remember the Gloucester games when we were ten?" Angel didn't take her eyes off the field. "I went up to that Boris guy afterward and told him he was a crappy Keeper…I don't think he liked that…"  
  
"ADAMS SCORES! TEN-ZERO RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"NO! COME ON GRYFFINDOR, BEAT THESE PEOPLE!" Angel was on her feet screaming at the top of her lungs. "POTTER—THE SNITCH—CATCH THE FRIGGIN' SNITCH, FOR GAWD'S SAKE…"  
  
"Come on, sis." Sirius pulled Angel down into her seat. "Back into your seat."  
  
"The Snitch…key to the game…hope that fathead gets it soon…" Angel glared at several first years, who were staring at her. "What are you lookin' at?" The first years scattered. "Freaks," Angel mumbled.  
  
The rest of the game continued in much the same fashion, with Angel cheering frantically every time the Gryffindors scored and booing insults and game tips every time the Keeper, Wood, let a ball past him. ((A/N: Not Oliver Wood, his dad. BTW, Oliver is MINE. Or at least Sean Biggerstaff is.))  
  
Ravenclaw ended up winning by ten points. "A narrow margin!" Jordan announced to the crowd. "What a surprising game, with Figg getting the Snitch…disappointing for James Potter…he's broken his winning streak. Ah, well, Gryffindors, better luck next time."  
  
"They were bad," Angel said as the group went down to the Gryffindor locker room to fetch James. "Hell, they were awful. James should have made a turn to the left when he was blocked by that Quaffle pass, I've got to pound that into his thick head…"  
  
"Did you know she was this obsessed?" Lily asked Bella. She nodded nonchalantly.  
  
After a few minutes of waiting in the locker room, they were greeted by a wet, freshly showered James. "We lost," he exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, you did, Potter," Lily said coldly. "Quite a shock, eh?"  
  
"Well, someone finally showed up for a game," James snapped back. Lily was about to say something sarcastic when Angel stormed up to James, talking at him.  
  
"What was that little dance out there with Kaston, you should have taken advantage of that to give Vicki Townsend a chance to score, come on, don't you guys use strategies—"  
  
"Angel," James interrupted. "Why don't you be our manager?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Our manager. It makes sense. You're always screaming tactics at me after games."  
  
"But—the manager has to be—"  
  
"A player or reserve player. So, be our reserve Keeper. You're good at Quidditch, about time you joined the team, and we don't have a reserve Keeper."  
  
"Really?" Angel asked. She was practically glowing.  
  
"Sure. I'll talk to Elena about it, she'll probably let you in."  
  
"Why hasn't she joined before?" Lily asked Bella as they set off for the castle.  
  
"Something about being afraid of all the crowds watching her every move. I think she's insulted enough players to be sufficiently scared of people like herself."  
  
^Angel's scared of something?^ Lily was faintly surprised. ^I thought she wasn't scared of *anything*.^  
  
^I'll come to the next Gryffindor game and cheer her on.^  
  
^Actually, I think I'll come to the next Ravenclaw game too. Quidditch is kinda fun.^  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
It was the end of the year. Everyone was packing up their belongings and moving out. Lily and Angel were the last ones left with last-minute packing in their dorm.  
  
Angel carefully wrapped the "Best Manager" trophy in Timberlane's Tearless Tissue Paper and set it gently in her bag. Beater and captain Elena Patton had welcomed Angel on to the team, saying, "We need some help." Angel had gone and helped the Gryffindors win the Quidditch Cup, and had even been in the deciding game against Ravenclaw to make a few saves while Wood was having a broken arm mended. "There," she declared now. "All done." She shouldered her bag and walked towards the door. Their trunks containing things not needed immediately were already waiting by the Hogwarts express. "Coming?"  
  
"Yes," said Lily, grabbing her bag and walking out of the dorm.  
  
She was just beginning to climb through the portrait hole when someone called, "Lily Evans?"  
  
She turned around. It was Arthur Weasley, Head Boy. He was one of the rare people who had never been a butt of the Marauders' jokes: they found him funny and amiable and therefore left him alone. "Dumbledore wants to see you," he told Lily now. "In his office. Big statue of the gargoyle on the fifth floor. Password's Fishsicles."  
  
"Thanks, Arthur," said Lily, and climbed out of Gryffindor Tower.  
  
"What was that about?" demanded Angel.  
  
"Dumbledore wants to see me in his office," said Lily. She was trembling; she'd never been asked to see Dumbledore before. ^Have I done something wrong?^  
  
"I'm sure it's nothing, Lils. I'll meet you down at the train." With a wave, Angel was gone.  
  
Lily slowly made her way over to the fifth floor. She reached the gargoyle and whispered, "Fishsicles." The gargoyle split and she began to climb the long stairway.  
  
She reached a door at the top and knocked timidly. "Come in."  
  
Lily entered the circular room; Dumbledore smiled at her. "Ah, Lily. Take a seat."  
  
She sat. "You wanted to see me, sir?"  
  
"Yes, Lily. It's about next year. You've been made a Prefect."  
  
Lily felt her nervousness evaporate and a warm glow of happiness take its place. A Prefect! "But, sir," her rational side said, "why are you telling me this now? Wouldn't you send me a letter?"  
  
"I want to talk to you about something else." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "I am also making James Potter a Prefect."  
  
"Potter??!" Lily exclaimed. "But—he's a horrible student—no brains…"  
  
Dumbledore chuckled. "On the contrary, my dear, James Potter has quite an intellectual capacity. He has, on several occasions, been caught with unchecked Restricted Section books on his person. Naturally, we gave him detention, but that didn't stop his thirst for reading about such subjects."  
  
^Wow,^ Lily thought, dazed, ^I didn't know that Potter read *anything*.^  
  
"He needs…a motive, if you will," Dumbledore continued, "for studying ordinary material with the rest of us. I would like you, Lily, to give him that motive."  
  
"What?!??!"  
  
"I would like you to help him in his schoolwork. No Transfiguration, he's fine at that, but Charms, definitely Charms…a little Potions and History of Magic thrown in wouldn't hurt either…"  
  
"Let me get this straight. You want me, Lily Evans, to tutor James Potter."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But—Professor—Potter and I hate each other."  
  
"Let me tell you a little story. When I was a student here, there was a girl in my year named Edwina. We loathed each other."  
  
Lily couldn't imagine Dumbledore as a student, having an enemy. "So what happened?"  
  
"We ended up dating for five months. Once I got to know her, she was really quite attractive."  
  
"Are you saying Potter and I will date?" The thought made Lily queasy.  
  
"No, of course not. You and James will probably still hate each other. I'm just saying that you should give people a chance."  
  
Lily blinked. Professor Dumbledore could be confusing sometimes. "But-- *tutoring* him…"  
  
Dumbledore held up a hand to stop Lily's protest. "Don't think there's nothing in it for you. We have a Tutoring Program in this school. It states that the tutor of another student is excused from one afternoon class and the homework from that class."  
  
Lily, about to flatly refuse, paused. One less class…It would do wonders for her free time. She could probably manipulate the schedule so that she missed no Charms classes. All for just an hour or so of tutoring Potter…  
  
She took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll tutor him."  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
On the train ride home, few people noticed that Lily and James were both unnaturally silent. Finally, Bella spoke up. "Lils? James? What's up with you two?"  
  
They were glaring at each other, ignorant of Bella's last comment. "I suppose you heard," James said sulkily.  
  
"I sure did," Lily snapped. "Now I've got to tutor *you* for however long it takes for information to get through your skull."  
  
"Well, you're the one that's getting off easy, one less class and no homework, just for an hour of making someone read something!"  
  
"Do you think I want to spend an hour with you? They should give me two classes off for dealing with you…"  
  
"I'm the one who gets extra work, I should get more free time--"  
  
"What would you do with it? Probably blow something up, that's what…"  
  
Remus nodded towards the two. "Think we should interfere?"  
  
"Nah," said Sirius. "They really need to get it all out. I'm sick of those icy silences between them. This'll do them good."  
  
"They look like they actually enjoy it," Bella commented thoughtfully, leaning towards the stack of Cauldron Cakes.  
  
"Oh, I'm sure they do," Angel said dryly.  
  
"If you didn't spend so much time on that stupid Quidditch field you probably wouldn't be flunking Charms!"  
  
"At least I have a *life* outside of school, unlike some people I know, and how do you know I'm flunking Charms, I'm actually doing OK…"  
  
"Yeah, right, don't give me that shit, Potter…"  
  
And the train rolled on.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
A/N: Ah yes, the old Lily Tutors James cliché. *rubs hands* Look forward to several explosions in Chapter Five.  
  
Hehe…that was a cool chapter to write. Writing about Angel's obsession was fuuuuun…;-).  
  
I just figured out this isn't too much of a James/Lily romance until later…it's more of a MWPP/L fic about their years at Hoggy Warty Hogwarts. YES, there IS a plot to this fic.  
  
OK, as of this chapter I've been doing one chapter per year. In the next years (fifth, sixth, seventh) lots of big things happen, so I'm going to have lots of chapters per year…this is gonna be a looong fic as I hope to continue up to right after James and Lily's deaths. Sooo, stick around… 


	5. Year Five: Sensitivity

A/N: Huggles to my reviewers!  You guys are the bestest of the best!  And another big thanks to DreamCloud53.  Chapter 4 wasn't up for twenty minutes when she reviewed!  Wow!  And to Skippy the rabid tree trunk: Sean is soooo MINE!  *grabs Sean and locks him in her closet*  There we go.  I hope he stops screaming "Yay, I'm locked in Lady Wildcat's closet!  This is the happiest day of my life!" soon or he'll ruin his adorable accent.  ;-)  
  
Anyhoo…on with the fic…  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
"Aaah!"  Lily jumped and whirled to see who had poked her on the back.  "Angel…Bel…you guys almost gave me a heart attack!"  
  
"Nice to see you too, Lily."  Angel stepped back and admired her friend.  "Ooh, the Prefect's badge is looking good!"  
  
"Thanks," Lily said, raising her chin proudly.  The effect was ruined by a small push from behind.  "Bella!  Don't!"  
  
"Jumpy today, aren't we Lils?"  Bella grinned as she boarded the train.  "Are we looking forward to seeing a special someone?"  
  
"I think I know who you're talking about, and no."  Lily scowled as she seated herself next to Bella.  "I'll be seeing way too much of him this year.  An hour of Potter, five days a week, for the whole year…"  
  
Angel plunked down opposite them and stretched her legs over the empty seat next to her.  "If you ever get in a big fight, sock him one in the nose for me.  He stole my Quidditch playing card collection this summer and held it for ransom.  I got it back by flying his lime green t-shirt with little hot pink cupids on the flagpole of our house."  She shuddered  "You think an hour is bad, try seeing someone every day for fifteen years…"  Lily nodded her head in sympathy.  
  
Just then, the subject of their conversation burst into the compartment.  "Has anyone seen Remus?"  
  
Lily almost didn't recognize James.  He'd gotten taller—much, much taller.  She supposed he was about five foot eleven now.  His messy black hair kind of framed his face, and his glasses accented his direct blue eyes.  His voice was deeper too—a light tenor.  Like Lily, he wore a shiny Prefect's badge.  If she didn't totally loathe him, Lily would say he was vaguely cute.  She immediately dismissed the last thought.  
  
Bella was staring openly.  Lily elbowed her.  "No, Potter, we haven't."  
  
He glanced at her.  "Nice to see you too, Evans."  He saw Angel and his tone turned whiny.  "Ab, come on, gimme back my shirt…"  
  
"No way.  Too valuable as blackmail material.  Scram, JP."  
  
James left, and Lily turned to Angel.  "Ab?  JP?  What…"  
  
Her friend shrugged.  "AB—Angel Black.  He kept complaining over the summer that he couldn't call both Sirius n'me Black.  So I suggested Ab.  Since he doesn't have any."  She grinned wickedly.  "JP—obvious."  
  
Bella was staring into space, eyes blank  Lily waved a hand in front of her face.  "Allooo?  Earth to Arabella!"  
  
Bella snapped out of her reverie.  "Angel," she said earnestly, "you are so lucky."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"James is your neighbor!"  
  
"So?  I wasn't lucky before—I was cursed with an infernal torture.  Which I still am."  
  
"But he's so hot!"  
  
"No."  Lily put her hands over her ears.  "No, no, no, I did not just hear one of my best friends say that James Potter is hot."  
  
"Come on, Lily, he is hot!  Don't you agree, Angel?"  
  
"Excuse me while I gag, but no."  
  
Lily was still trying to grasp what Bella was saying.  "How could anyone, *anyone*, think James Potter is attractive?"  
  
"People who recognize hotness when they see it, that's who!"  
  
"She's delusional," Angel said firmly to Lily.  "Hallucinations and such."  
  
"I am not!  He's hoooot."  Bella danced around the compartment.  "H-O-T…H-O- T…"  
  
"Bella, m'dear, let's review the facts about James."  Angel started ticking points off on her fingers.  "Annoying, fatheaded, self-centered, egotistical, thinks he's God's gift to the Quidditch team, prank-pulling, childish.  Oh, and really nasty to Lily."  
  
"Hmm."  Bella paused in her dancing.  "Good point.  I hate Potter, but he's sooo hot!"  She started dancing again.  
  
"Dear Lord," Angel muttered.  "Lils, we've got a class-one crush case here."  
  
"OK, you Doubting Thomases."  Bella sat down again and turned eagerly to Lily.  "Of all people, Lils, you should have a crush on James.  Opposites attract and all that."  
  
Lily made a face.  "You must have a really sick mind to think of that."  
  
Bella thought for a moment.  "But—don't you find his eyes attractive?"  
  
"No."  
  
"His hair."  
  
"No."  
  
"The way he says 'Evans'."  
  
"No."  
  
"His height"  
  
"No."  
  
"His face."  
  
"No."  
  
"His voice."  
  
"No."  
  
"His glasses?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Lily, you're impossible."  
  
"Whatever.  Bella—"  Lily never got to finish her sentence, as James re- entered the compartment, followed by the rest of the Marauders.  
  
Lily stared.  Like James, Remus had also changed over the summer.  He had gotten slightly taller and his honey-brown hair was sun-bleached and needed a trim.  Peter she didn't even spare a glance—he was Peter, always Peter, and nothing could change that.  But the one who really caught her eye was Sirius.  He was a little shorter than James—about five nine—but was more muscular, and his build was heavier than James'.  His hair was much longer and pulled back in a short ponytail.  He smiled at Lily, and her stomach jumped oddly.  
  
"Stop staring," Bella whispered in her ear.  "Your eyes are like dinner plates."  Lily straightened and looked away from the boys.  
  
"Hello, biological mistake," Angel said, raising an eyebrow at her brother.  "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I could ask the same, dear sister, but please keep in mind that we have to live together for the next three years or so."  Sirius winked at Lily.  "Lookin' good, Lils.  Bella."  
  
"Um…thanks."  Lily was suddenly absorbed in fiddling with the hem of her robe.  
  
"What are you doing here?  Other than checking out my friends."  
  
"Just passing through.  Enjoying the last few moments of freedom before we are returned to the chains of school."  
  
The word "school" brought a topic up in Lily's mind.  "Potter.  Tutoring.  Where should we meet?"  
  
"Um…how about the Common room?"  
  
"Right then.  The study period will be marked on your schedule."  
  
"Okay."  The Marauders left.  
  
"Wow, Lily," Bella said in mock amazement, "an actual conversation with James where neither of you insulted the other!  There is hope for your relationship!"  
  
Lily wasn't paying attention; she was looking dreamily at the door the Marauders had gone out of.  "Not James, Sirius," she said absentmindedly.  
  
"What?"  Bella shook Lily's shoulders.  "WHAT was that about Sirius?"  
  
"Hmm?  Oh, did I mention him?  Um…er…nothing."  
  
"You're blushing."  Bella grinned and resumed dancing.  "Lily's got a cruu- uush on Sirius Blaa-aack…"  
  
"I do not!  Get off my back, Bella!"  
  
"Odd choice of crush," Angel commented.  "Why would anyone like my deformed maniac of a sibling?  Other than his deformed maniac friends, of course."  
  
"So does that make me a deformed maniac?" Lily demanded.  
  
"Yes, if you have a crush on my brother.  I can see you as a bag lady in twenty years—dating Sirius will get you absolutely nowhere."  
  
^I think they're right,^ Lily thought as she scowled at Bella's grin and Angel's raised eyebrow.  ^I've got a crush on Sirius.  Boy, this is weird…^  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
James piled marmalade onto his first piece of toast and shoved it into his mouth.  Grabbing another piece, he slathered more marmalade onto it while chewing his first piece.  
  
"Charming," said a dry voice behind him.  "Your manners, JP, bring to mind a horde of chimpanzees having a food fight."  It was Angel, followed by Lily.  They sat down at the table, Lily next to Remus, Angel next to James.  ((A/N: Peter…sitting allooooone at the end of the table!!  MWAHAHA!!  Erm, *ahem*.  Back to the story.))  Sirius, always a late sleeper, never came down to breakfast on time.  Lily was vaguely wishing that he was sitting next to her instead of Remus.  
  
James scowled, which is hard to do when one has a mouthful of toast in one's mouth.  "I'm hungry," he tried to say, but it came out as "Oof punri."  
  
Angel raised an eyebrow, an expression of hers James was well familiar with after fifteen years.  "Right.  Whatever you say."  
  
James swallowed and took another bite of the toast in his hand.  "Evans…"  
  
"We don't need to see your masticated marmalade, Potter."  Lily rolled her eyes.  
  
James swallowed, and continued in a slightly more scornful tone, "What classes do you get off for tutoring me?"  
  
Lily grinned.  "Two Potions, two Divinations, and a History of Magic."  
  
"Damn, Evans, and I get an hour taken from my precious free time."  
  
"What do you do with your time?  Give me one constructive activity."  
  
"Um…Homework.  I do homework…takes me a while too…"  
  
"Yeah right.  Since when has the infamous James Potter ever cracked a book open for an assignment?"  
  
"A lot of times, I'll have you know.  All right, homework not good enough for you, I make lists of how to torture Snape and execute them in my free time."  
  
Lily opened her mouth, but paused.  Even though she was generally known as docile and shy, torturing Snape was an admirable activity in her book.  She hated Snape: he had tried to copy off several of her exams in various years, thereby earning her eternal resentment.  "All right.  I'll give you that.  But you better be in the Common room by seven thirty or Angel will hang your cupid shirt above the fireplace and charm it to say 'I belong to Jamesie!'"  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
James saw Lily in the corner of the Common room almost as soon as he walked in.  Wanting to dawdle and make her madder, he loitered around the fireplace, talking to Sirius.  Evans, however, apparently had eagle eyes.  Damn.  
  
"Potter, you're late," she called loudly.  James sighed and pulled up a chair to her table, resigning himself to the lesson.  ^Torture Trial One.  Only 180 or so more to go…^  
  
"Let's make this quick, Evans.  I've got places to go, people to see, evil Slytherins to torment."  
  
"Well, I was thinking that you could show me the most complicated charm you can do, and we'll see where to go from there."  Lily sat back and smirked.  James silently cursed her.  
  
With a sigh, he raised his hand.  "Um…Keviris," he said weakly, pointing at a book on the table.  It got up and started dancing halfheartedly.  
  
Evans raised her eyebrow, a trait James could see that she had picked up from Angel.  James understood her scorn: they had learned the Keviris charm in the third year.  "Do you mean to tell me," she said slowly, "that anything past the Keviris charm has leaked through your head?"  
  
"No!  Of course not!  I—"  
  
"Summon this book with the Accio charm."  
  
James scowled.  "Accio book," he said.  It didn't budge.  
  
"Pathetic," Lily said.  "Really pathetic.  You can't even do an Accio charm."  
  
"Some people have a life, Evans!  Normal people don't spend their free time with schoolwork!"  
  
"That 'no life' insult is getting old.  And I do other stuff in my free time!"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Well, I—read, and talk…"  
  
James leaned forward.  "Can't think of anything, Evans?  That's because you don't have any life.  None.  You're just some nerd who spends all her time in books.  Do you know what people say behind your back?  I've talked to people, no one really likes you.  You're an outcast, a freak—"  
  
"STOP IT!"  Lily stood up, trembling with anger.  "Just stop it, Potter!  Haven't you ever considered that your comments might hurt someone's feelings?  Have you ever thought of someone besides yourself?"  
  
The whole common room was silent.  Everyone was staring at James.  He sat very still and looked at Lily.  She was still shaking, and she looked dangerously angry, but James could see the glint of tears behind her glasses.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, looking at the table.  "I'm really sorry, Evans.  That was nasty of me."   
  
Lily relaxed visibly.  "Okay."  She bit her lip, and James could see the effort it took to hold in her tears.  With a jolt, he realized how sensitive she really was: he'd always supposed she could take his remarks without batting an eyelash.  
  
He stood up and began to collect his books.  "Let's go find a place where we can scream at each other in private."  Lily nodded, grabbed her bag, and followed him out of the Common room.  
  
"I s'pose we could go to the Transfiguration room.  No one's there at this hour."  Lily's chin was high, but James could see it trembling.  
  
Hesitantly, James laid a hand on Lily's shoulder.  She looked up at him, surprised.  "I really am sorry, you know.  I never supposed you were so—well…"  
  
"Sensitive?"  Lily said bitterly.  "My sister screams at me all the time.  Calls me a freak.  I cry alone, after she leaves."  
  
James led the way to the classroom, letting Lily keep her dignity by crying where he couldn't see her.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
A/N:  Aaaw…poor Lily.  This chapter was an eensy bit more serious than I wanted it to be…well, anyhoo, James and Lily don't hate each other as much as they used to…an excellent development!  *James and Lily bow, readers clap.*   
  
In this chapter, Bella's hotness obsession is kind of based on my friend *cough*Cookie*cough*.  "I hate him, but he's so hot!"  Hehehe, Cookie!  :- )  Oh, and my friend Mutt suddenly thinks Angel is based on her, since they both are sarcastic, tall, have brown hair they wear in a ponytail, bad handwriting, and are obsessed with some sort of sport.  Whatever you say, Mutt.  
  
Oh, BTW, what is the capitalization of common room?  I'm in New York right now, on my adorable little iBook, and all my HP books are back at home.  Is it Common Room, Common room, or common room?  Anyone know?  
  
Chapter six comin' soon!  Let's try to have at least 30 reviews by then, k? 


	6. Year Five: Conversations

Gyah, guys, I am so sorry about the HUUUGEE delay!! I got muchos involved in my other fics., plus my computer broke (for the full story see my fic Seven Years), plus I got writer's block for this...so, I'll stop babbling, and get on with the ficcie.

Disclaimer: Yadda yadda, same old.

***

"Listen, Potter, you _have _to learn this charm."

"Give me one reason why Charms have any impact on my life whatsoever."

"Exams. O.W.L.s. N.E.W.T.s. Surviving in the adult world. Shall I go on?"

"Evans, I _know _the damn charm, it just doesn't _like _me!"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Potter, charms have no _feelings_."

"Yes they do. They hate James Potter."

Lily sighed and closed the book. She'd been working with Potter for an hour every day, for three days so far—and all they had done was argue. It was time to stop, anyway.

"Okay," she said. "Same time, same place tomorrow. And I swear we're going to _work._"

"Right, whatever you say."

***

"When d'you think they'll murder each other?" Angel whispered to Remus at breakfast a week later. James and Lily were sitting at opposite sides of the table glaring at each other.

"They've lasted longer than expected," Remus answered. "But I think the crack will be sometime—"

"_Why _did you have to summon a BOOKSHELF?" Lily burst out.

"It was convenient!"

"A huge shelf loaded with Transfiguration books is bloody CONVENIENT?"

"Soon," Remus finished.

"You should really be in Divination," Angel commented. "You'd be good at it."

***

"Accio book."

The book whizzed across the room and into James' hand. He smirked at Lily. "See, Evans? I'm not as mentally challenged in Charms as you think."

"Good," said Lily wearily. "Only took you two weeks. Now, I noticed you spacing out in Potions today..."

"You were watching me?" James waggled his eyebrows. "Why, might I ask?"

"You were at the front of the room, near where Snape was standing as he tutored the lesson." She didn't care to tell Potter that Sirius had been sitting next to him and he had happened to cross her line of vision as she looked at his friend. "The assignment is pretty complicated, so get out your book."

James groaned as he opened the book. "Do you ever take _breaks?_"

"Nope. Now shut up and tell me what you know about this potion."

***

"Miss Evans!"

Lily whirled around in the hall and saw Professor Flitwick waddling towards her. She smiled. "Hello, Professor...what do you need?"

"I'd just like to congratulate you on your work with Mr. Potter," the tiny professor said. "He has done fabulously on his past few assignments, and I have noticed that his attention span has grown considerably. Do keep up the good tutoring, Lily."

She felt herself glow from the praise. "Thank you, Professor."

"You know, once you're finished with Mr. Potter, I do have a few students in the lower classes who could use some tutoring...would you consider helping them? You are, after all, one of the top Charms students in the school, you know."

Lily turned red and laughed. She wasn't used to being praised this much. "Thank you, but no thanks, Professor. I think one pupil is enough."

"All right, Lily, but I encourage you to reconsider." Flitwick left, and Lily continued her way down the hall. _That was nice, _she thought. _Careful, Evans, too much praise and your head might get bigger._

***

"What is _wrong _with you tonight?"

James looked up from his Charms book. "Wrong with _me_?" he asked icily. "Nothing. What could _possibly _be wrong with me?"

Lily sighed and leaned back in her chair. "You've said nothing for the entire evening and we've actually gotten some work done, despite you giving me Evil Eyes the whole time. Something's up, Potter. I haven't been tutoring you for a month to not know that your favorite way to eat up an hour is to argue with me so as not to do any work."

"Evans, I'm as happy as can be. Tra la la, let's go get ice cream." 

At least he was being sarcastic. That could count as normalcy. Lily wasn't satisfied, though. "Spit it out, Potter."

"Okay, I'll _spit it out._" He stood up, and Lily could see his anger. "I heard you talking to Flitwick in the hall today."

Lily's stomach sank. "Oh," she said lamely.

"_Oh_ is right." James pounded his fist on the table. "You must think you're so smart, Evans. 'Oh, Miss Evans, excellent job on that dumb Potter kid.' 'Oh, _thank you_, Professor!'" James made the imitation of Lily's voice high and whiny. "'You are one of the top Charms students, Lily.' 'Of _course _I am, Professor!'"

"That wasn't how it went," Lily said weakly. It _had _been a bit close to James' reenactment.

"'Well, Miss Evans, we have more dumb guys in the school to tutor, after you're _finished _with Potter you can tutor them!' 'Thank you, Professor, but I think one dumb guy is all I can handle, hahaha!'" James was really mad by now. "Evans, you're one of those people who thinks they're the only smart person on the universe. _I'm _smart too, you know! You think I've never opened a book in my life just because I get a lot of detentions, play Quidditch, and like to have fun. Well, it's _not true!_" James gathered up his books. "I think the lesson is over for today. And, as far as I'm concerned, I think it's over _permanently._" 

He left, and Lily just sat there. For once, there was something where she couldn't put any blame on Potter.

***

"Angel."

"Mm?"

"I feel terrible. I mean really, really bad."

"'Bout what, Lils?" asked Angel sleepily. Eleven o'clock at night wasn't the best time to seek her opinion.

"Well, it's about...Potter."

Angel sat up in her bed so quickly it almost woke Daisy Solomon across the room. "_What_?" she hissed. "Lily Evans feels bad about something to do with _James Potter_?"

"Well, yeah..."

"_God_, Lily, what is it? Did you finally murder him or something?"

"No, stupid." Lily turned over onto her back and tugged at her sheets. "It's just...Flitwick came up to me in the halls and congratulated me on my tutoring work with Potter...I mean, it was totally innocent conversation! Well, almost. And Potter...overheard."

"Yes..."

"And it seems he's _really _sensitive about his intelligence, and he yelled at me today and made me feel really bad about the whole thing."

Angel nodded. "Yeah, he is really smart, but touchy about it. But knowing your blossoming relationship with JP—" Lily rolled her eyes "him yelling at you should cause you to glare at each other for several days with each of you trying to pin the fight on the other. This glaring period will finally be ended with a massive explosion at breakfast or, in rare circumstances, dinner, and then you will be back to your normal bickering selves. Nowhere in the Evans and Potter Feud rulebook says that one of you feels _bad _about a fight."

"Well...he kinda made me see it differently, and now that I think about it, I was acting like a stuck-up know-it-all."

"Now you're calling yourself names JP usually calls you. Did you eat something bad?"

"No, Angel...I'll figure this out on my own."

"OK, g'night." Angel rolled over and was soon sleeping. Rest, however, was not so easy for Lily...

***

"Well?"

"Yes?"

"What's this?" James held up a note he had found on his dinner plate.

Potter—Meet me in the Transfig classroom at 7. I've got something to say. Please come, even if it is to just yell at me again. –L. Evans

"Yeah, well..." Lily took a deep breath. "I'm sorry that you had to hear that conversation, and you're right about me, I really do think I'm smart, and you're really smart too, and I didn't mean to sound like a stuck-up prat, will you forgive me?"

There was silence. Then James spoke up. "That must've taken a lot."

"Well...being me, it's hard to apologize to you."

"Yeah." A pause. "So...can you help me with the Charms assignment?"

Lily knew that meant forgiveness, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Right. Were you listening at _all?_"

"Yes...well, some...no, not really."

"God, Potter, do you ever _learn?_"

***

Yayyayya...another chappie up! I'd like to thank all the people who have stuck with this fic, even through that long dry spell of chapter drought! See ya!


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